Hey bleruse,
Thanks for the response and we appreciate your skepticism. First of all, we don't want to make it seem like the leak is the only issue we are facing. We are a small developer and that comes with plenty of issues. However, this was the first month that we've had one and the trajectory of our growth shifted pretty significantly compared to previous months.
At the very moment the game was leaked, subscriptions went from a steady stream of around four or five per hour to zero or one, instantly. In previous months, the days following the release had a continuous influx of people. After that leak, the number was comparatively much smaller. Before writing that message, we spent a long time observing what was happening to take in a complete picture of what had happened, as we didn't want to post something without knowing the full picture. But based on all our data, it's clear that the leak had a pretty significant impact. There are less subscribers than there were a month ago and they are paying less on average. So it isn't just that we are growing at a slower rate, the growth was actually negative over the last month for the first time since the start of the project.
In addition, we are trying to branch out onto other websites. Itch and reddit are two examples. We already have a presence on Twitter and particularly on Pixiv, and both do help. Reach is obviously a thing we need to continue developing and while we don't yet have the reach of some other developers, the fact that they exist with the audiences they have indicates to us that significant growth is still possible for us.
So yes, while we understand that this is primarily a website for pirates, we felt it necessary to state the truth about the situation. We didn't want to stay quiet for months, not discussing the issue and then disappear suddenly. As always we want to be transparent with everyone, and the truth is that a leak in the first week and especially the first day is a huge blow for us.